Impeller



W. MEYER IMPELLER Filed May 27, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l five/12%? (MY/1am $76 367 Aug. 16, 1932. w MEYER 1,872,483

IMPELLER Filed May 27, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 16,1932

UNITED STAT-Es] m. FI

WILLIAM MEYER, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS IMPELLER" Applicatien filed May 27, 1929., Serial No. 366,178..

This invention relatesto impellers, and particularly to impellers for use in hair driers and the like, for the purpose of blowing or projecting a stream or blast of air upon the scalp. and hair to be dried.

While the particular. device which I shall describe hereinafter in connection with the drawings is shown in connection with the hair drier of my prior patent, No. 1,541,988,

' granted June 16, 1925, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to such use, but may be employed in all similar work, or wherever a fan or impeller, with the characteristics of the fan or impeller of the present invention is suitable or desired.

The object of the present invention is the provision of a generally improved, .sim'pli: lied, and inexpensive impeller structure and a generally improved, simplifiedand inexpensive method of forming same.

Another object is to lmprove the efficiency of the fan or impeller and particularly to improve the efliciency' and adaptability of the impeller for the work in connection with which it is employed, as pointed out above.

Another object is to provide a fan which is simple to construct and of relatively great:

strength and stability.

Another object is the provision of a fan so'having a relatively high anemometer speed,

quiet in operation and with which eddy currents and pockets, particularly at'the outer ends of the blades, are eliminated.

Further objects and the advantages and characteristics of the present invention will appear from the following detailed descripti on, taken in connection with the accompanyl ing drawings, in which Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through the hair drier of my prior patent, No. 1,511.-

988, showing an impeller embodying the' present invention, ,in. connection therewith Figure 2 is a front elevational View of the fan or impeller; V Figure 3 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the fan on'an enlarged scale, to show thedetails of the vane or blade forma tion; V

Figure 4 isa section, taken on the line 5.:4-4 of Figure 3;

Figure5 is a section, taken onthe line 5-5 of Figure3; Figure 6 is a section, taken on the line 66 of Figure 3; 1 i

Figure 7 is asection, taken on the line 7-7 of Figure 3;

Figure 8 is a section, taken on the'line'88 of Figure 3;'and f v Figure 9 is a fragmentary front elevationa1 view of another embodiment of the inven- 'tion, in which the blades or vanes are arreceives anddirects the air and radiant heat and light to the scalpand hair, or other surfaceor substance. The .air is drawn in through the open inlet end 9 of the drum or shell 5. v 1 I A ring'12 is securedinternally about the inlet end 9 of the drum 5 and an electric mo- 'tor 13 is mounted at the inlet 9 of the drum 5 concentrically with respect to the axis of the drum by a supporting frame or mounting bracket 14, which is suitably secured at the inlet end of. the drum 5. v The motor 13 has a revolvable shaft 15, which projects axially into the inlet end 9 of the drum 5 and fixed upon said shaft 15, as by means of a set screw 16 for rotation with said shaft and within the drum?) is a hub 17 to which the central portion ofthe fan is secured, as'by means of screws or other fastening devices indicated Carried bythe frame or bracket 14 are a.

pair of snap switches 20, one for controlling the circuit through the motor 13 and the other for closing and opening thecircuit through a heating coil 24, i By closing the circuit through the'motor 13, the fan 6 is started with a resulting projection of cold air from the discharge end of the tube 7 Opening the motor circuit stops the fan and discontinues the stream or blast The reflector is mounted concentrically within the discharge end of the drum 5, as

by means of spaced angle brackets 26 and its largest external diameter is sufficiently smaller than the internal diameter of the drum 5 to provide an annular passage 27 between it and the interior of the drum, through which the air is delivered to the discharge tube 7. The heating coil 24: is supported annularly about the passage 27 in the path of the stream or blast of airfrom the inlet 9 to the discharge end of thetube 7 by spaced insulating blocks 28. By closing the circuit through the coil '24,the air deliv-" eredfromthe device maybe heated.

" r A standard or ordinary Edison socket 30 supports a lamp. 35, which is preferably ahigh power electric lightjor. incandescent lamp, such as a .nitrogen' or :high power tungsten filament lamp, although this may vary. When the lamp circuit is closed, the rays of light and radiant heat emitted by the lamp are reflected by the reflector 25 and projected outwardly through the outlet, end of the tube 7. 7

" The discharge tube 7 is preferably provide ed in'ternallywith ribs or fins extending longitudinally thru the tube for the purpose of projecting the air in a straight line without swirling, turning or circular motion."

The foregoing will suffice for a description of the particular hair drier illustrated. The details of the driermay vaI'y Widely, so far as the fan or impeller 6 of the present invention isconcerned and, in fact, the fan or impeller may be employed for other purposes andis not limited to use in a hair drier. Such deta1ls as have been described are, however, for the purpose of clearly imparting a full understanding of the advantageous charact er1st1cs of the present invention, in connection with a particular device, with which it has been found highly eflicient and suitable.

The fan or impeller 6 is preferably of unitary construction and is,.pre ferably stamped from a single piece of sheet metal. It comprises the inner generally axial. discslike portion 50, wlth the vanes-or blades 52 struck or drawn out integrally from the same sheet.

outwardly of the inner mounting portion and integrally connected at theirouter ends by the integral surrounding rim 53. The mountmg portion 50 may .besolid, as shown,

and apertured for fastening to the hub 17 by the fastening elements 18, or this mount- 1ng p0rt 1on 5O may be formed with an axial 'ments of this invention obtained.

opening, or otherwise, for attachment in any suitable or preferred manner to the hub 17, or an integral laterally pressed hub portion is even contemplated within the scope of the present invention.

This portion of the impeller or fan may be varied widely. The integral rim 53 is, preferably, rolled over or beaded, as shown particularly in Figures 1, 4. and 5, and I find that this provides excellent strength and rigidity aroundthe rim of thefan. The central disclike mounting portion 50 forms the hub of ''the fan and may be termed the hub of the fan. In the embodiment of Figures 3 to 8,

thesp'acesbetween the blades or vanes 52 are relatively wide and are formed by stamping or cutting out the openings 54 alternately beof increasing width outwardly from the centween the blades 52. The fan rotates in the direction indicated by the, arrowv 55 in Fig.

ure 3 and the openings 54 are, preferably,j

tral portion 50 to the rim 53. The blades 52 are also preferably of increasing width from the centralportion 50 to the rim 53. It is to be noted that the blades or vanes 52 are not radial, but are preferably disposed at an v angle 6 t0 the radii, indicated at arra in Figure v3.

blades outwardly away from the direction of This angle 6 is preferably such that rotation is an important aspect of the present invention. I find by anemometer tests that the eff ciency of the fan is greatly increased thereby. Higher anemometer speeds are pro- .duced by this backward slope. In addition, this inclination of the blades 54 to the radii Jaa provides longer blades within a given radial dimension and the backward sloping of the blades outwardly toward the rim 53 and away from the direction of rotation 55 seems to give a better outward direction to the blast or stream of air outwardly around and through the annular space 27 between the outer periphery of the reflector 25 and the interior of the drum 5.

I reserve the right, however, to supplement or even correct, if necessary, the theory of action of the fan, but I shall described herein how the invention may be practiced. and employed and the advantages and improve- The leading edges 58 of the blades 52 may be convex or curved forwardly slightly, as indicated by comparison with the straight dot and dash line c.-c in Figure 3. While this slight condrawing or pressing the blades 52 to the desired pitch. The trailing edges 59 are shown as substantially straight, but this, too, may

vary

within the scope of the present invention.

The blades 52 obviously provide integral connections between the central portion and the integral rim 53.

The blades 52 are pitched to the desired angle to the sheet from which theyare drawn or struck, as indicated at e, in Figures 6, 7 and I cupped slightly toward the direction of rotation of the fan and particularly at the outer ends of the blades as shown in Figures 6 and 7. The inner end of each blade is cupped up at toward its leading edge 58, which cupping may be formed by a drawing of the metal along this portion and the outer end of each blade is cupped forwardly toward its leading edge 58 at 62, which cupping 62 may also be produced by a drawing of the metal along these portions of the blades.

The outer ends of the leading edges 58 are, preferably, rounded at 63 into the outer ends 64 of the openings 54 and the inner ends of the leading edges 58 are preferably rounded at 65 into the inner ends 66 of these openings 54. Due, possibly, to the difference in angular relation between the outer ends of the leading edges 58 and the outer ends of the openings 54 and the inner ends of these leading edges 58 and the inner ends 56 of the openings 54, the curvatures 63 at the outer ends of the blades are, in the illustrated embodiment, on smallerradii than the curvatures 65 the inner ends of the blades. The inner ends of the trailing edges 59 are in substantially the plane of the flat sheet from which the blades are drawn at 68 and at their outer ends the rearward or trailing portions of the blade 54 approach or substantially reach the plane of the flat sheet slightlv ahead of the outer ends of the trailing edges at 70. Rearwardly or away from the direction of rotation of the fan, the outer ends of the trailing edges 59 are preferably turned rearwardly or eX- tend across and to the opposite side of the Hat sheet or the plane of the mounting portion 50 to provide tails 72 at the outer ends of the trailing edges, which tails are preferably rounded substantially as shown at 73. I find that these trailing tails 72 at the outer ends of the trailing edges 59 provide excellent kick ofis for action upon the air or other fluid and that the efiiciency of the fan is further increased thereby and pockets and eddies, particularly at the outer ends of the blades are avoided. A greater suction is produced on one side of the fan and a greater compression or blowing or blasting force is produced upon the opposite side of the fan.

If desired, it is to be understood that the leading edges 58 may be thicker than the trailingedges 5.9-; for the purposeoffurther reducingieddy [currents and this may be produced by the drawing of the blades from thefiat1sheetstoclr;." a

The openings 52 may,'of course, be stillwider than illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 to space the blades or vanes 52 still further apart T or these openings 52 may be narrower to space the blades 54Icloser together. I. also contemplate separating. the, trailing edges of the blades from the leading edges of the succeed:-

ing blades merelyby'cuts 70, asillustrated in the embodimentbf "Figure 9. In this case,v

there need be no openings-of appreciable width formed between the blades, but the cuts 7 0 will freethe leading edges 72 to be pressed ordrawn to thedesired form,.a's described in connection with'the previous embodiment."

In this case, the outerends of the leading edges 72- are cupped'up at 73- and the. inner ends of these leading edges 72 are cupped up: at 74. The outer ends of the trailing edges are, as before, preferably provided with tail portions, which trail behind the. outer ends of the blades and provide kick offs. which increase the efiiciency of the fan. As before, the compression 011 thefront side and the suction on the back side is improved and the air is directedoutwardly and effectively and efficiently through the annular space 27 between the'outer periphery of the reflector 25 and the interior of the drum 5. The blades are again,

preferably, at angles to the radii and preferably slope backward outwardly'towa-rd'the rim and away from thedirection of rotation.

The tail portions or outer ends of the trailingv edges-,-indicated at 75,-are again preferably turned in and to the opposite side of the fan, as more fully disclosed in connection with the previous embodiment.

In forming the fan of Figures'l to 8, in-

elusive, the openings 54 are preferably first cut out. ting'of these openings or thereafter the blades are pressed to shape and thereafter the mar- Either simultaneous with the cut-'- ginal bead 53 is rolled. The formation of the fan of F igure9 may be the same, and the particular order or combination of steps may vary, as desired.

I do not intend to be limited to the precise details illustrated or described.

I claim:

1. An impeller comprising a unitary sheet metal multi-blade structure with the blades pitched angularly relative the normal plane of the sheet metal, and trailing tails turned across and to the opposite side of the plane of the sheet metal adjacent the outer ends of the trailing edges of the blades.

2. An impeller comprising a unitary sheet metal multi-blade structure with the 3. An impeller comprising a unitary sheet metal multi-blade structure with the blades pitched 'angularly relative the normal plane l of the sheet metal, and slopin'goutwardly away from the radii of the impeller and away from the direction of rotation of the impeller.- r

4.- An impeller comprising a unitary sheet metal multi-blade, rim and hub structure, with the blades pitched angularly relative the normal plane'of the sheet metal and diminishing in width from the rim toward the center of the impeller, said blades sloping outwardly away from the direction of rotation-of the impeller and kick off tails turned across and to the opposite side of the plane of the sheet adjacent the outer ends of. the trailing edges of the blades. 7

5. An impeller blade having a trailing taiL turned rearwardly away from the pressure side and toward the suction side of the blade and disposed adjacent the outer end of the trailing edge of the blade.

6. An impeller having a blade sloping outwardly away from the direction of rotation ofthe impeller and a tail turned rear- Wardly away from the pressure side and toward the suction side of the impeller and disposed adjacent the outer end of the trailing edge of theimpeller, said blade dimin ishing in width from the tip of the blade toward the center of the impeller.

7. Animpeller blade having a kick off tail turned rearwardly away from the pres sure andtoward the suction side of the blade and disposed adjacent the outer end of the trailing edge of the blade, said blade sloping outwardly awayfrom the direction of rotation of the impeller. V 8. An impeller blade having a trailing tailturned rearwardly away from the pressure side and toward the suction side of the blade and disposed adjacent the outer end of the trailing edge of the blade, said blade diminishing in width from the tip of the blade toward the" center of the impeller.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my'name thisl ith' day of May,,1929.

WILLIAM MEYER. 

